Will Fisher to his mother
Camp Stoneman
March 21, 1862

Dear Mother,

I will again resume the pen to inform you as to my health & whereabouts. We are still on the old camp (not at Fort Lyons). It begins to seem like home to me here. We have been here so long & have got things fixed up in such good shape. We were thrown into great excitement again the other day by the report that we were going on the fleet now getting up here on the Potomac, but it, like all the other reports, has proved a false alarm.
Last Saturday the col. gave orders to the capts. to take a vote amongst the men to see how many would go & take musket, but the vote was all – no, I won’t go. The men in this regt. are beginning to think they have been humbugged about long enough, so now they ain’t going into infantry, not by a “jug full.”
I think there is no help for the regt. now &, in fact, the Col. says so himself. He is awful mad at the men because the men would not go. As for me, I have been eased first rate, but in plain english I think Col. Morrison is a tyrant, that is, he likes to show his authority too well. I don’t wish to find any fault, but I think this is as great a fault as there is in connection with the military affairs. I believe as our lieut. says, “strict on duty & friendly & sociable off of duty.”
I should like first rate to have gone on this fleet, but not in the way they wanted us to go. We enlisted as cavalry & have been lied to from the time to time about getting our horses & about the amount of pay we was to get & everything else, & now for our officers to want us to take muskets & go into battle (when half of the regt. could not load a gun). I think it is tough, for in all battles they put the green trooper in ahead & keep the good ones in reserve to win the day. You can see the propriety of this.
We got up a paper in the regt. unbeknown to the officers & every man signed it & we sent it in to Congress & the Congressmen from York State added a little to it & then sent it to Governor Morgan to have the regt. mounted at once or disbanded. I think it will do some good.
I have not time to write any more at present. How is Aunt Sarah & the rest of the folks? Write soon.

Your boy,
Will